Unexpected Fate
by monmon
Summary: (YAOI) A Hanaru get together ficcy *FINISHED*
1. Default Chapter

Unexpected Fate: Chapter One  
by [Monmon][1]

Disclaimers: I do not own most of the characters in this story. They belong to Inoue Takehiko. So please do not sue me, I have no money. I dedicate this fic to Pastles who has always been so helpful and informative ever since the beginning when I started to write. So here's the second fic that I have ever written and the first one is not even finished yet… =(… but please, enjoy and feel free to drop me a comment or two… =Þ 

  
_Swish._ Rukawa Kaede jumped and executed a perfect three-pointer. After wiping the sweat on his face with a towel, he picked up his stuff and walked off the basketball court. Tomorrow would be his first day at his new school in Kanagawa. He hasn't been back for a long time but he could see that the place remained pretty much unchanged. It was somewhat comforting. He unchained his bicycle and started to cycle home. Lulled by the familiar rhythm of pedaling, he quickly fell asleep. 

***** 

Mito Youhei knew he was in trouble when he saw four thugs closing in on him with metal sticks and knives. He recognized these guys from the gang that he, Sakuragi, and the Sakuragi Guntai beat up recently. Since they could not take them out when they were together, they decided to take them out one by one.   
Suddenly a dark-haired guy on a bicycle, appearing out of nowhere, ran over two of the guys that were about to jump him, grinding them painfully to the ground. It was all the distraction that Youhei needed. He quickly dispatched the other two guys with several quick, hard punches and kicks. Brushing some dust off of his clothes, he looked at the guy that inadvertently helped him. "Hey, thanks man."   
The dark-haired guy didn't answer and was checking his bike for any damages. Youhei watched him carefully. The guy was quite tall with his raven-colored hair covering his eyes and he had a stone cold face. The boy looked up. Piercing blue eyes gazed into hard brown ones.   
"Ede-chan?" Youhei exclaimed in surprise.   
The guy blinked and stared hard at Youhei. "Hei-chan?" A touch of surprise was evident in the guy's voice. 

***** 

"So, Ede-chan, how have you been? I haven't seen you in such a long time." Youhei asked in between bites of his burger. The boys were eating dinner at Danny's.   
"Call me Kaede. I'm fine."   
"Ok, then you better call me Youhei." Youhei said with a smile.   
Rukawa gave him a micro smile before he focused again on his food.   
Youhei watched Rukawa silently. "Kaede. You've changed a lot." He said suddenly.   
"Not really." Rukawa replied coolly.   
After looking silently at Rukawa a moment longer, Youhei asked, "So when did you get back? How long are you going to stay?"   
"A few days ago. I will be attending school here."   
"Really?" Youhei chattered happily while Rukawa listened quietly. Rukawa's answers to his questions were pretty much monosyllabic. Youhei was surprised and delighted to hear that Rukawa would be attending Shohoku and he discovered that Rukawa was still interested in basketball. Youhei filled the silence by talking about various different subjects and they soon finished eating. They walked out of Danny's together.   
"I live a few blocks over there." Rukawa pointed in one direction.   
"Oh, I see. It's getting late and you should be going back. I still live at the same old place. Do you remember where it is?"   
Rukawa nodded slightly and then got onto his bike to cycle home. He paused and turned towards Youhei.   
"Youhei…"   
"Yes?"   
"Nice to see you again." Rukawa then cycled off without looking back.   
Youhei smiled as he watched Rukawa cycle away. He turned around and started to walk back home. He was happy that he got to see his childhood best friend again, but he was also astounded at how much Rukawa had changed. Rukawa appeared to be so cold and so unfeeling. '_What happened to that happy smiling boy I once knew?_' He frowned. He knew that the old Rukawa was still there deep inside from what Rukawa had said when he left. Youhei shook his head clear of his thoughts and decided that his questions would be answered another day now that Rukawa was staying in Kanagawa. He whistled cheerfully as he walked home. 

***** 

It was been a week since Youhei last saw Rukawa. He heard many rumors about the "new handsome guy with the stone cold face". He also heard that Rukawa joined the basketball team. His best friend was also on the basketball team and he decided to visit them at the gym and perhaps introduce them to one another.   
When he opened the door to the gym, his eyes almost popped out in surprise when he was greeted with the scene of Rukawa and Sakuragi brawling.   
"Hey! Kaede! Hanamichi! What are you guys doing?" He called out to them.   
They paused their fight and looked over at him.   
"You know this guy????" They asked incredulously in unison. Realizing they said it at exactly the same time, they glared blackly at each other.   
"Baka kitsune!!" Sakuragi threw a punch at Rukawa's face.   
"Do-aho." Rukawa countered by kicking Sakuragi in the stomach.   
The fight resumed while Youhei sweat-dropped and stood there watching in horror. He shook himself out of his surprise and moved to separate the two guys. '_I can't believe my two best friends hate each other._' After Rukawa moved away from Kanagawa with his parents, Hanamichi moved in and Youhei quickly became best friends with him. He had always wanted to introduce Rukawa to Sakuragi and vice versa. But as one moved away, the other moved in. He had always thought that given the chance, all three of them could become best buds. '_No chance of that now._'   
He pulled Sakuragi away from Rukawa knowing that Sakuragi was the more temperamental of the two and started to calm him down. Rukawa, on the other hand, after seeing that the fight would not continue any time soon, sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. He quickly fell asleep.   
"Hanamichi! What the hell do you think you're doing? Why did you hit Kaede?" Youhei wanted to know.   
"He provoked me first! And besides, he stole Haruko-chan's heart." Sakuragi hissed back. After calming down a bit, he asked, "How do you know him anyways?"   
Youhei blinked in surprise. Akagi Haruko was the reason that Sakuragi joined the basketball team in the first place. Sakuragi fell for her the moment he laid his eyes on her. So when she asked him if he was interested in basketball, he immediately answered without thinking, that he loved it. He apparently wanted to impress her and he quickly joined the school basketball team. It was quite surprising for everyone when they discovered that Sakuragi had an inert talent for the sport.   
"He was my childhood best friend. He moved away and then I became friends with you." Youhei answered.   
"What?! He was your best friend??? How can you be friends with such a cold block of ice???" Sakuragi's voice raised a notch.   
Youhei clamped his hand on Sakuragi's mouth and glanced down at Rukawa. The boy shifted slightly before falling back into a deep slumber. Youhei sighed in relief. He didn't want the enmity between his two best friends to increase any further. He turned back to Sakuragi. He could tell that Sakuragi was still angry but the redhead was slowly calming down.   
He removed his hand slowly from his best friend's mouth. "Kaede wasn't like this when I knew him. He used to be a lot more open and cheerful. I guess those years in which he moved away from Kanagawa changed him a lot." Youhei sighed. "I thought you two could become friends."   
This time Youhei's hands was ready to stifle Sakuragi's outburst as he saw Sakuragi's face tauten again with anger. He dragged him out of the gym and waited for Sakuragi to calm himself down again. Youhei spoke after a few minutes, "Look, you and Kaede are both my best friends. You don't expect me to choose, do you?"   
Sakuragi looked a bit uncomfortable and after a few minutes, he shook his head. Youhei sighed in relief. He led Sakuragi back into the gym to where Rukawa was sleeping. Youhei bent down and started to shake Rukawa awake. Rukawa's eyes opened and fist shot up towards Youhei's face, but Rukawa pulled back in time when he realized just who it was.   
Youhei gave Rukawa a big smile, happy knowing that Rukawa would never intentionally hurt him. He then glared at Sakuragi. The redhead was shuffling his feet on the gym floor looking uncomfortable. Youhei got up from his position next to Rukawa and then went over and punched Sakuragi lightly on the arm. Sakuragi glared at him and Youhei glared back. Rukawa watched all of this silently from the gym floor.   
Sakuragi finally spoke up with his eyes trained on the ground and his hands clenched in fists. "I'm only doing this for Youhei. I know he considers you one of his best friends and I just don't want him to choose." Sakuragi became silent and Youhei glared at him once more. Sakuragi glared back and then sighed. "I'm… sorry. Truce?" Sakuragi said in low voice through clenched teeth.   
Youhei turned to look expectantly at Rukawa. The fox-eyed boy looked at Youhei silently for a few minutes and then sighed. "Okay…" Rukawa said in a low voice. Rukawa got up and started to walk out of the gym.   
"Kaede…" Youhei called after him.   
Rukawa turned around and his eyes softened slightly as he looked at Youhei. He gave him a micro smile. "…gotta go… see ya…" Rukawa then turned around and walked out of the gym.   
When Rukawa disappeared from sight, Youhei turned to look at Sakuragi, "Still angry?"   
"How come I'm the one that has to apologize and not that kitsune?" Sakuragi glared at Youhei.   
"Cause I'm sure that you threw the first punch." Youhei replied.   
"I… I…" Sakuragi sputtered. "Oh whatever! Let's go eat. I'm starving." They walked out of the gym and headed towards Danny's. 

***** 

   [1]: mailto:Monmoname@hotmail.com



	2. Chapter 2

Unexpected Fate: Chapter Two  
by [Monmon][1]

Disclaimers: Read Chapter 1. 

  
It has been a month now since he came back. He was happy to see his childhood best friend again, but he was also surprised to discover that the loud-mouthed do-aho was also Youhei's best friend. He sighed. He knew that he didn't have the right to control who Youhei could be friends with, but he just didn't understand why Youhei considered that baka to be his best friend. '_The guy is totally irrational and he hit me for no reason the first time I saw him._' But he knew that it would be incredibly unfair of him to make Youhei choose, so he mostly ignored the redhead these days.   
Rukawa walked out onto the school roof, skipping his last class to get some shuteye. '_I'll wake up in time for basketball practice_' he promised himself. He drifted off to sleep in a span of two seconds. 

Sakuragi decided that he needed some fresh air. Lately he has been restraining himself from beating Rukawa into a bloody pulp whenever Youhei was present and that was quite often. Ever since that day when Youhei found them fighting in the gym, Youhei came to practice everyday and even kept them company when they were stuck together with clean up duty. Akagi and Ayako were happy and astounded that the juniors stopped fighting and were therefore grateful for Youhei's presence.   
Sakuragi pushed the door to the roof open and walked out. He immediately spotted a prone figure on the floor of the roof. Curious, he walked up to it to see who it was. He was surprised to see that it was Rukawa. He was about to turn around and stomp out of the area when the look on Rukawa's face stopped him. The fox's face lost its usual icy, blank expression and was replaced by a more calm and open expression. Sakuragi smiled and bent down to look at the other boy fully in the face. Rukawa's dark bangs fell lightly over his eyelids and thick long eyelashes contrasted sharply with the boy's smooth white skin. Sakuragi sighed. '_No wonder Haruko-chan's so crazy over him. He's just too cute when he is like this._' Sakuragi mentally smacked himself. '_What are you thinking about? He's just a stupid fox and he looks like his face is stuck in a block of ice. Tensai is much more good-looking than him!_'   
Sakuragi's thoughts quieted when Rukawa suddenly opened his eyes. His face was back to its usual cold expression. Sakuragi sighed mentally in disappointment. The kitsune-eyed boy looked up at Sakuragi and then quickly sat up. "What are you doing?" Rukawa's voice had an icy hard edge.   
Sakuragi turned slightly red and then recovering, he let out a big laugh. "HAHAHAHA!!! Tensai can go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants!"   
"Do-aho."   
"TEME, KITSUNE! How dare you say that about the Tensai?" Sakuragi was quickly seeing red as his anger flared.   
Rukawa just ignored him and walked through the door, back into the building.   
"How dare you ignore the Tensai, you fox!" Sakuragi began running after Rukawa. He caught up to Rukawa and was about to pound the boy to the ground when suddenly Youhei appeared down the hall. Sakuragi immediately slung an arm on Rukawa's shoulders and smiled brightly at Youhei. Rukawa looked a bit disgruntled but he allowed Sakuragi's arm to stay on his shoulders. Youhei walked up to them with a curious expression on his face.   
"What were you guys doing?" Youhei asked suspiciously.   
Rukawa gave Youhei a blank look while Sakuragi smiled nervously at him. Sakuragi replied, "N… Nothing. Just hanging out."   
"It's a good thing that I found you guys together. I have a question for the both of you. You guys won't mind eating dinner at my house tonight, right?" Youhei asked with an overly sweet smile. "I already told my mom that you would both come." Youhei held up a hand to stall any protests that might come from the boys. He turned towards Sakuragi. "Hanamichi, you already promised my mother that you would come over one of these days. I know that you don't have any plans tonight and you love my mom's cooking. Also, today is Friday, which means that there is no school tomorrow. So why not today?"   
Sakuragi thought pensively to himself and then sighed. "You're right. I did promise and the Tensai never breaks his promises."   
Youhei then turned to Rukawa. "My mother really wants to see how much you've grown up Kaede. Why not come over and have dinner with us tonight? It'll be like old times."   
The kitsune-eyed boy thought silently for a moment and nodded his acceptance to the proposition.   
Youhei smiled. Sakuragi felt a bit uneasy when he noticed a mischievous glint in his best friend's eyes. "You guys can come together right after practice." Youhei said. Youhei turned to walk away and then he stopped. "And you guys better not fight during practice or on the way to my house, or both me _and_ my mom would be upset." Youhei walked away whistling cheerfully.   
Sakuragi gulped in terror. He still remembered the last time he saw Youhei's mom get angry. Let's just say that it wasn't pretty. He still got nightmares of the much-feared spatula that kept hitting his head.   
Rukawa shrugged Sakuragi's arm off and walked away.   
Sakuragi was still off in his own little world when he finally realized what time it was. He was going to be late for basketball practice. He frantically started to sprint towards the gym. When he got there, practice already started and Akagi had an angry expression on his face. Rukawa had already changed into a T-shirt and shorts and was practicing his three-pointer.   
"Sakuragi!! Why are you late?" Akagi bellowed.   
"Gori. I'm just a few minutes late…"   
"Who are you calling Gori???"   
_POW!_   
"Itee…" 

***** 

Several hours later, practice ended. Sakuragi changed quickly in the locker room and walked out of the gym with his bag slung on his back. He saw Rukawa leaning against the front gate of the school looking up at the sky. The warm wind was ruffling through Rukawa's hair and his face looked so serene. Sakuragi's breath hitched in his throat as he walked up to the kitsune-eyed boy. Suddenly Rukawa glanced in his direction and the blank cold expression was firmly back in place. Rukawa started to walk away without even acknowledging his presence. He held a tight rein on his rising temper at being ignored by reminding himself what Youhei had said, and hurried after Rukawa. When he caught up to the boy, Rukawa had already fallen asleep. They walked together silently and Sakuragi glanced at the sleeping boy, amused that Rukawa didn't get himself killed yet from always sleeping while he was walking on the streets.   
Suddenly Rukawa stepped out onto the street in front of a car headed in his direction. Sakuragi quickly latched onto Rukawa's arm pulling him back from the street. Rukawa didn't even wake up. He just continued to walk. Sakuragi kept a tight grip on Rukawa's arm and mentally sighed exasperatedly. '_Better not let him bump into anything or Youhei and his mom might think that I have caused his injuries._' He thought grumpily. During the course of the trip, he steered Rukawa away from fire hydrants, telephone polls and many other immobile obstacles. He sighed in relief when they finally reached Youhei's house. He was about to wake Rukawa up when he fortunately remembered the consequences of doing such a thing. '_Better let Youhei handle him._' He rang the doorbell of the house and the door swung open. After Youhei woke Rukawa up without any mishaps, he ushered them both into the house.   
"Ah, you boys are finally here. We thought that you both got lost." Youhei's mother said as she walked out of the kitchen.   
"No we didn't get lost. Practice just took longer than usual, Mito-san." Sakuragi explained, giving the plump, cheerful woman a big smile.   
She returned his smile with a big one of her own. She then turned to Rukawa. "Kaede! You have grown so much! You are so tall now. You're a little too skinny though. Well, I'll just have to fix that." She gave Rukawa a warm, motherly smile.   
"Thank you for inviting me, Mito-san." Rukawa said in a low voice while bowing his head slightly in respect.   
Sakuragi looked at Rukawa with shock and then recovering quickly he turned to Youhei's mother. "So what are you cooking for dinner, Mito-san? Is it your famous casserole? And perhaps your miso soup? I just love your cooking." Sakuragi asked while rubbing his stomach and licking his lips.   
"Hanamichi, how did you guess? Oh, you guys must be starving from basketball practice! Why don't you guys help Youhei set up the table? Dinner will be ready in a few minutes." Youhei's mother bustled back into the kitchen where delicious smells were wafting to their noses.   
Youhei turned towards them. "I see that you guys behaved." He said with a bright and amused smile on his lips.   
Sakuragi glared at his best friend and opened his mouth to start complaining when Youhei shoved an assortment of utensils at Sakuragi. He then gave Rukawa a pile of plates. "Mom said that you guys have to help me set up the table. Just spread those out on the table. I'm going to get the napkins and soup bowls." Youhei walked out of the room before he could say anything. He looked at the utensils in his hands and then noticed that Rukawa was already spacing the plates out evenly on the dinner table. So he walked up to the table and started to set the appropriate utensils next to each plate. They worked together in silence.   
Sakuragi has never seen Rukawa be polite to anyone before and seeing him like that towards Youhei's mother almost shocked him speechless. He gave Rukawa a sidelong glance. The boy was almost finishing spacing out the plates on the table. After he finished, Rukawa looked up directly into his eyes. Sakuragi felt himself drowning into the deep blue depths. Realizing that he was staring, he looked away and blindly put down some utensils next to a plate.   
"You're setting the table wrong, do-aho."   
Sakuragi looked up in surprise, which quickly turned into anger as the fox's words sank in. "Teme, kitsune! Are you saying the Tensai is wrong? Tensai is NEVER wrong!!"   
The dark-haired boy arched an eyebrow at him and then snorted. He then turned and walked away before Sakuragi could say anything more.   
Still steaming angrily, he closed his eyes and began to breathe in and out deeply. Slowly he began to calm down. Looking at the table, he noticed that he placed two forks next to one plate and two spoons next to the adjacent plate. Flushing wildly in embarrassment, he realized that he had wrongly yelled at Rukawa. He then started to wonder how he should apologize to Rukawa. He started to bang his head on the dinner table but stopped before the noise alerted anyone else in the house. '_Why the hell should I apologize to that fox? He's my archenemy and I never needed a reason to yell at that kitsune before!_' He blocked out the little voice in his head that urged him to apologize to Rukawa and focused again on the task of setting up the table correctly. 

***** 

Dinner went rather well. All of the boys profusely and unabashedly complimented her cooking. Hanamichi chattered incessantly throughout the whole meal and had doubles of all the dishes on the table. Surprisingly, Kaede was silent for most of the meal, only talking when asked a direct question. Youhei had told her that Kaede had changed but she did not realize that it would be so drastic. She also noticed that Kaede and Hanamichi weren't on the best terms. She mentally made a note to ask her son about it later. She shooed the boys out of her kitchen, ignoring the offers to help her with the dishes.   
"It's late. You guys should be getting home. Kaede, where do you live right now?" She asked.   
Rukawa told her and she mentally pinpointed the location in her head. "Hanamichi, Kaede lives on the route that you usually walk home. So why don't you walk him home?"   
Seeing the resistance in the redhead's face, she sighed and lifted her handy spatula, ready to threaten and beat the boy into submission.   
"That's not necessary." Rukawa's voice cut in.   
She turned towards the kitsune-eyed boy with a warm smile on her face. "Kaede, you have just moved back here and I don't think that you're that familiar with the streets around here just yet. The times have changed and the streets are not as safe as they used to be. I'll never forgive myself if something bad happened to you on your walk home from my house. Please let Hanamichi walk you home." On the last sentence, she added a pleading note to her voice.   
Rukawa didn't even stand a chance. The dark-haired boy immediately acquiesced to her suggestion. She secretly smiled at Rukawa's sudden willingness to do things her way.   
She turned and arched an eyebrow at the redhead. Sakuragi muttered some profanity under his breath and then grumbled an "Okay". She gave them both a motherly good night kiss on the cheek and then she waved goodbye at them from the kitchen door. They both thanked her again and then Youhei walked them out the front door.   
She sat on the couch, sipping some tea, waiting for her son to come in. A few minutes later, Youhei walked in.   
"Youhei, sit down." She patted the spot right next to her.   
He plopped down beside her and stretched out. "What's up, Mom?"   
"Tell me what happened between Kaede and Hanamichi."   
Youhei eyed her with surprise and then sighed. "It's sort of a long story."   
"We have time." She poured another cup of tea and handed it to her son. She waited patiently as Youhei sipped the tea. He then told her everything. 

Rukawa walked slowly, looking up at the star-filled night sky. He totally ignored the redhead walking beside him and deeply breathed in the crisp night air. The stars twinkled down on him. '_So everlasting and beautiful._' He sighed to himself. '_Too bad people are not the same way._' Not liking his sudden turn of thoughts, he cleared his mind. He concentrated on the beating of his own heart and found himself lulled by it. His breathing slowed and he drifted off to sleep. 

Sakuragi stared determinedly at his own feet as he walked beside the kitsune. Rukawa had not said one word about the table-setting incident all night. The guilt was slowly eating at him, driving him nuts. That was why he was chattering more than usual during dinner. He was trying to forget about his guilt. Now that he was alone with the fox, his conscience came back at him full force.   
'_Apologize and the guilt will disappear._'   
'_SHUT UP!_'   
'_It'll make you feel better._' The voice answered soothingly.   
'_Tensai will NEVER apologize to that kitsune!_'   
'_Fine! Then suffer the consequences!_' The voice sounded frustrated and angry. Then it became silent.   
Slow, soft breaths penetrated the quiet of the night. Sakuragi glanced cautiously at his companion. The fox-eyed boy was asleep. '_That baka can really sleep anywhere._' He snorted and curiously turned to stare fully at the other boy. The moonlight fell lightly on the sleeping boy, making his features softer and ethereal. His eyes trailed down the long eyelashes, high cheekbones, smooth white skin, and finally stopped on pouting red lips. '_Hmm… I wonder if his lips are as soft as they look._' Sakuragi mentally smacked himself. '_What the hell are you thinking? Rukawa is a GUY! And he's your natural enemy to boot._' But he couldn't help the sudden urge within him to reach out and caress Rukawa's cheek.   
Suddenly Rukawa stepped out on the street in front of an oncoming truck. Sakuragi, acting instinctively, grabbed the fox-eyed boy around the waist and pulled him back to safety. This time, however, Rukawa woke up. A fist swung unerringly for his face. Sakuragi quickly stepped back and ducked. But this caused him to be off-balanced. He fell onto his back pulling Rukawa along for the ride. Maybe it was the work of mischievous Fates. Rukawa's lips landed on his own as they fell to the ground together with the fox directly on top of him. Although it was a dry kiss, something akin to electricity shot through his body. Rukawa immediately jerked out of his grasp, got up and backed away from him with a wild look in his eyes. The dark-haired boy's normally unreadable eyes were full of confusion and more than a little fear. Sakuragi sat up, his hands running through his red locks nervously.   
"Kaede, I…" Sakuragi didn't know what he was going to say. But he'll never know because at the moment he opened his mouth, Rukawa high-tailed out of there. Sakuragi was left staring at the spot Rukawa was standing just seconds before.   
As he sat there, many thoughts swirled around in his mind. When he finally regained his senses, he realized what it was he was feeling. It was disappointment. '_Why would I be disappointed?_' He asked himself wonderingly.   
'_You like him._' A voice in his head replied calmly.   
'_NO I DON'T!_'   
'_Come on. Think it through._' The voice persuaded soothingly.   
Feelings assaulted him as images of what happened just before emerged to the fore of his mind. Sakuragi blushed as he remembered how right it felt to have Rukawa in his arms. He also remembered, although it was only for a brief moment, how soft Rukawa's lips felt on his own.   
'_See._' The voice in his head sounded a bit smug.   
Sakuragi groaned. He was totally taken in by that fox. Hook, line and sinker. '_So what do I do now?_' He asked mentally.   
The voice in his head was silent.   
When Sakuragi finally got home that night, it was already past midnight and he still did not know what to do about Rukawa. He tossed and turned in his bed through most of the night and when he finally fell asleep, his dreams were filled with foxes forever running out of his reach. 

***** 

   [1]: mailto:Monmoname@hotmail.com



	3. Chapter 3

Unexpected Fate: Chapter Three  
by [Monmon][1]

Disclaimers: Read Chapter 1. 

  
The next morning greeted a Sakuragi with puffy, red, bloodshot eyes. He groaned loudly and propped himself up on an elbow trying to get his eyes to focus on his clock. 6 A.M. He groaned again falling back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. '_It's Saturday and I can't sleep in on one of the few days that I don't have to go to school._' Finally deciding that staying in bed would not help him, he dragged himself out of bed and into the shower. After sufficiently cleaning himself, he pulled on a loose white shirt and gray jogging pants for his morning run.   
He established a steady rhythm and found himself thinking about what happened last night. '_So what am I going to do about Rukawa? Should I explain that it was only an accident or should I say nothing at all?_' He pondered some more and then muttered to himself, "I think I'm thinking too much on this subject."   
Sakuragi then looked up. He had jogged further than he usually did from his house. He was now in the neighborhood where Rukawa lived. The sound of a basketball being dribbled drifted to his ears. Curious, he jogged towards the basketball courts. As the courts came into view, he saw two figures playing basketball together. He moved closer behind some bushes and a familiar dark mop of hair came into view. '_Rukawa!_' The other boy that Rukawa was playing with had dark spiky hair that also seemed very familiar. He thought for a few minutes and finally came up with an answer. '_That's Ryonan's star player Sendoh Akira! How come Rukawa is playing basketball with him? How did they meet?_' He thought to himself, as a pang of jealousy swept through him.   
He watched glaringly as Sendoh slid through Rukawa's defenses and threw the ball into the hoop. Sendoh then called a timeout and the two boys sat down together underneath a nearby tree drinking from their water bottles. Sendoh said something to Rukawa and the kitsune-eyed boy looked up in his direction. Sakuragi's heart got caught in his throat as dark blue eyes focused on him. He was torn between running and staying to find out why Rukawa was playing basketball with Sendoh. His decision was made for him when he found that he couldn't get his feet to move. Rukawa then got up and walked towards him with an unreadable expression in his piercing blue eyes. 

Sendoh gulped down the water from his bottle and glanced at the beautiful boy beside him. '_I'm pretty sure that this boy is Rukawa Kaede of Shohoku. He's definitely as good as the rumors say he is. But he needs to work a bit more on teamwork._' He thought with a big smile on his face.   
He shivered as he felt an extremely unfriendly gaze on him. He surreptitiously looked around and spotted a mop of red hair disappear in the cover of bushes. '_Hmm… a redhead._' He gave a start. '_Could it be…?_' He spoke up.   
"Is he a friend of yours?" He nodded towards the cluster of bushes near where they were sitting.   
Rukawa stared hard at the bushes and then got to his feet.   
"Wait here." Rukawa dropped the words as Sendoh watched him stalk towards the bushes. 

'_What is he doing here???_' Rukawa thought incredulously to himself. '_Was he looking for me to talk about last night? But that was just an accident. I know I overreacted, but it's not everyday that I wake up with my lips touching another boy's._' Rukawa adamantly refused to think of it as a kiss. '_I'm sure that it was accident on both parts. Sakuragi didn't want to kiss me and I didn't want to kiss him. Therefore it was not a kiss._'   
Soon he found himself standing a few feet from the redhead. Sakuragi looked like he didn't sleep at all last night and had a dazed expression on his face. They stared at each other silently for a few minutes and then Rukawa broke the silence.   
"Sakuragi?" He asked a bit hesitantly.   
He watched silently as Sakuragi visibly snap awake at his voice.   
"What are you doing with him?" Sakuragi growled out angrily, jabbing a finger in the direction of the boy he was playing basketball with.   
Rukawa was a bit taken aback by the apparent anger in the redhead's voice but he didn't let it show on his face. He thought carefully for a moment and then decided to answer the boy instead of telling the do-aho that it is none of his business. He didn't feel like fighting with the redhead at the moment and he didn't want to disappoint Youhei by breaking the truce.   
"He asked me to play basketball with him. I don't know him." Rukawa replied calmly.   
Rukawa was fascinated at the number of emotions that appeared on the other boy's face. He never knew anyone whose features were so… lively. Anger, jealousy, confusion, longing, sadness and finally regret. A whisper from Sakuragi brought him back from his thoughts.   
"I'm sorry."   
Rukawa was shocked to say the least. '_Did I just hear that? Sakuragi apologized? Pigs must be flying!_' He looked up at the clear blue sky to check for any unusual behavior by pink, fat animals. The sun was just peeking over the horizon and the birds were chirping greetings to each other. Finally deciding that it wasn't his imagination, he looked at the redhead and asked coldly, "For what?"   
"Everything!" Sakuragi replied hastily, running fingers through his red locks nervously. "Look, can we start over? Hello. I'm Sakuragi Hanamichi." The redhead held out a hand towards him.   
Rukawa looked suspiciously at the outstretched hand and then at Sakuragi's face expecting it to be a trap or a trick. The other boy certainly looked sincere enough with large, pleading, puppy dog eyes. Hesitantly he reached out a hand slowly, ready to snatch it back immediately if he noticed anything amiss. His slender hand lightly clasped Sakuragi's hand as the taller boy held his hand in a warm and firm grip.   
"Aww… how sweet." A cheerful voice cut in.   
They both let go in reflex and turned towards the voice. The spiky-haired boy he was playing basketball with was standing there with a big grin on his face.   
"I hate to break the moment but I thought you agreed to play basketball with me. So are we still playing or what?" 

Sakuragi glared balefully at Sendoh, anger and jealousy surging to the fore once again. "Sendoh Akira, what are you doing here, so far from the Ryonan district?" Sakuragi grew even more jealous as he saw Rukawa eye the Ryonan player with renewed interest.   
"So you have heard of me." Sendoh sounded amused. "You must be Sakuragi Hanamichi and you, my pretty boy," Sendoh turned towards Rukawa, "must be Rukawa Kaede."   
Rukawa arched a fine eyebrow at Sendoh and then shrugged letting the comment pass.   
"So you heard of the Tensai, haven't you? You're here to spy on my amazing skills, aren't you?" Sakuragi boasted, forgetting his anger and not hearing the comment Sendoh made about Rukawa.   
Sendoh just grinned widely and opened his mouth to say something more when Rukawa cut in.   
"Let's play."   
The fox walked back to the court, picked up the basketball and twirled it on an index finger. Rukawa threw a small smirk over his shoulder. The smirk was a definite challenge and it was one that Sendoh immediately responded to.   
The game started. 

***** 

The 10 point game ended a half and hour later. Sakuragi took the chance to observe both players. He was reluctant to admit that Sendoh was really good and a better player than Rukawa. The kitsune had an internal fire to win that matched Sendoh's but the spiky-haired boy was apparently more skilled and had more endurance. The score ended as 10-8 Sendoh.   
"Good game, Rukawa." Sendoh grinned at Rukawa who was drinking from his water bottle.   
"…"   
Sakuragi looked back and forth between Rukawa and Sendoh, unsure of what to say. Rukawa suddenly spoke up.   
"I gotta go." Rukawa packed up his things quickly and climbed onto his bicycle.   
Sendoh called out, "Will you play basketball with me next Saturday?"   
Rukawa looked back impassively and then replied in a low voice. "Maybe."   
As Rukawa began to cycle off, Sakuragi was hit with the realization that the fox was leaving. Their conversation was not finished. Sakuragi started forward running after the raven-haired boy and shouted, "Wait up, kitsune!" 

Rukawa winced internally at the extremely loud voice behind him. He turned around slowly and watched Sakuragi run up to him. He noted detachedly that Sendoh was watching them. The redhead stopped a few feet in front of him. The other boy's eyes were downcast and one of his sneakers was digging nervously into the dirt. Finally when Rukawa was about to turn and leave, Sakuragi looked up into his eyes.   
"Rukawa, we need to talk."   
'_Wow. He actually called me by my name. This has got to be one of the weirdest days of my life. First, Sendoh challenges me to a game of basketball and then Sakuragi apologized and now this. The day has barely even started yet!_' Rukawa thought to himself. He then thought about Sakuragi's proposition. '_Well I am certainly curious about what he has to say._' He nodded slightly at the redhead, and to his immense surprise, the redhead gave him a brilliant grin.   
"Great! Let's have breakfast together. I'll meet you in Danny's in an hour. Well, I gotta go finish my morning run. See ya later!" The redhead was gone before he could get a word in. Rukawa stared impassively in the direction that Sakuragi had gone and sighed silently to himself. He shook his head slightly and started to pedal home. 

Sendoh watched the juniors amusedly. '_Hmm… Sakuragi has a thing for Rukawa but Rukawa does not know._' He found both of the juniors interesting and intriguing. Rukawa was definitely one of the most beautiful boys that he had ever seen and Sakuragi was definitely one of the most adorable. '_They are so perfect for each other! Sort of like… me and Hiro-kun!_' He thought gleefully to himself. '_Hmm… maybe I should play matchmaker._' He had a mischievous grin on his face. '_I wonder if Hiro-kun will help me…_' 

***** 

Sakuragi fiddled with the collar of his shirt impatiently. He was fifteen minutes early for his meeting with Rukawa. He looked out the window again searching for a head of dark tousled hair. He looked at his watch and then cursed softly. Barely five seconds had passed since he last looked at his watch. Sakuragi almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up expectantly and his heart plummeted to his stomach when he saw whom it was. Youhei. "Ohayo, Youhei. What are you doing here so early?" He said, trying to hide his nervousness from his best friend.   
Youhei arched an eyebrow at him and then slid into the seat of the booth across from him. "I should be asking you that question. You usually sleep until early afternoon on the weekends." His best friend replied. "Are you waiting for someone?"   
Sakuragi's thoughts raced through his mind and then finally decided to stick with the truth. "Yes." He replied, surprising himself with how calm he sounded.   
"Well, who is it? Is it some girl? You lucky dog! You finally got yourself a girl! At least I don't have to try to stop you from jumping off the roof anymore. Is it Haruko? Or is it someone else? Well come on and tell me already!" Youhei questioned him excitedly.   
"Um… actually… it's nothing like that…" Sakuragi groped for the words in his mind. Youhei looked like he was about to burst with curiosity. "It's Rukawa." He finally blurted out.   
Youhei's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and he jaw dropped down to the table. If it had been in any other situation, Sakuragi would have fallen out of his seat laughing. But it wasn't. He looked at his best friend nervously.   
When Youhei finally got over his shock, he started to fire questions at lightning speed at Sakuragi. "When did you and Rukawa become friends? How come you didn't tell me? You know that it would make me extremely happy to see you two finally getting along with each other. How did it happen? What made you and Rukawa decide to become friends? How did you convince yourself that you wanted to be his friend? Hell, how did you manage to convince _him_?"   
"He apologized." A smooth, low voice cut through Youhei's barrage of questions. Both boys stared at Rukawa in surprise as the kitsune-eyed boy slid gracefully into the seat right next to Youhei.   
Youhei looked extremely like a goldfish as he swung his head back and forth staring at both Rukawa and Sakuragi. His eyes finally rested upon Sakuragi and managed to squeak, "You apologized?!"   
Before Sakuragi could answer, Youhei sprung to his feet, reached across the table and placed the back of his hand on Sakuragi's forehead. "You don't have a temperature." The boy muttered somewhat incredulously.   
Sakuragi swatted irritably at Youhei's hand and sent his best friend a glare that promised a head butt if the other boy didn't stop his antics.   
Youhei sweat-dropped and then plopped back down in his seat. Silence reigned at the booth for the next couple of minutes. Finally, Sakuragi broke the silence.   
"Um Youhei? Do you mind? I would like to talk to Rukawa alone."   
Youhei growled ominously at him with frustration and curiosity apparent in his eyes, but he stood up. Rukawa got out of the booth so Youhei could leave and then slid back into the booth. Sakuragi could clearly read his best friend's expression. It said that if he didn't tell him what was going on soon, Youhei would beat it out of him. Sakuragi averted his eyes from Youhei and studiously kept his eyes on the tablecloth. He heard another growl from his best friend and then the boy left. He sighed slightly in relief. He then looked up at Rukawa and found the fox-eyed boy staring at him. He shifted uncomfortably under the piercing gaze and sought for something to say.   
"Why don't we order something to eat first? I'm sure you're hungry by now…" His words trailed off as he looked upon the beautiful boy before him.   
Rukawa nodded after a few minutes and then looked away from him, turning to look outside the window. Sakuragi quickly called a waitress to their table and they both ordered some eggs, toast, sausage and juice. When the waitress left the table, silence reigned once more, making both boys fidget in their seats. 

***** 

Rukawa tried to patiently wait for the redhead to speak up but the other boy kept avoiding his eyes and studying the tablecloth. He had had enough. He wanted to know why the baka was being so friendly to him all of the sudden. He wanted to know why the redhead wanted to talk to him. He wanted to know why the do-aho apologized. And he wanted to know now.   
"Sakuragi…" He said somewhat hesitantly. When the boy looked up, he asked the question that was plaguing his mind. "Why did you tell me to come here?"   
He was once again astounded at the amount of emotions that flitted through Sakuragi's face and eyes. This time, however, they were so quick that he couldn't tell what they implied.   
Sakuragi spoke up. "Well… yesterday…"   
Rukawa looked away quickly, a faint blush coloring to his cheeks. '_Kuso! He's not going to mention IT, is he???_'   
"Forget it." Rukawa immediately cut in.   
Rukawa could have sworn that he saw a flash of hurt cross the redhead's face but in a blink of an eye, it was gone.   
"Kitsune, hear me out why don't ya?" Sakuragi said in a frustrated tone.   
Rukawa gave the other boy a slight nod.   
"Yesterday…" Sakuragi continued, glaring at him to keep quiet. "I realized that maybe you are not such a bad person. Youhei's mother likes you a lot and Youhei always has something good to say about you. Also, I know that Youhei really wants us to try to become friends and I think it would be a big waste if we don't at least try it. So what do you say?"   
To say that Rukawa was surprised at Sakuragi's words would be the understatement of the year. He blinked and then blinked again. He then rubbed his eyes and then pinched himself discreetly to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Nope. It wasn't a dream. Sakuragi was still sitting right in front of him with those large puppy dog eyes. He weighed the pros and cons in his mind and finally came up with an answer.   
He shrugged and replied indifferently, "Okay." 

***** 

   [1]: mailto:Monmoname@hotmail.com



	4. Chapter 4

Unexpected Fate: Chapter Four  
by [Monmon][1]

Disclaimers: Read Chapter 1. 

  
It has been four months since he had gotten Rukawa to agree to try to be friends with him. Shortly after, Youhei cornered him and demanded to know what happened between him and Rukawa. He reluctantly told Youhei what had happened that fateful night after they left together from Youhei's house. His best friend was stunned speechless at first and then he grudgingly accepted it. Sakuragi was surprised at the acceptance and when he asked him why, Youhei just told him that he was his best friend and he would support him in whatever he chose to do. Youhei also told him that Rukawa deserved to be happy and that he would beat the crap out of him if he mistreated the fox. Sakuragi smiled slightly at the memory as he walked on lost in his memories.   
His basketball skills have improved a great deal these last few months. He practiced with Sendoh and Kaede every Saturday morning. At first, he was very suspicious of Sendoh's intentions towards Kaede but his suspicions were allayed one day when the fox-eyed boy had to leave early from their practice. So he stayed and played one-on-one with Sendoh. After a few games, Koshino arrived to pick Sendoh up. The relationship between the two Ryonan players was unmistakable. Koshino assured him that Sendoh was not after Kaede for anything more than a challenge. Sendoh even suggested that he play matchmaker between him and Kaede, which was shot down, thankfully in his point of view, by Koshino's glare. It is now nearing Christmas and he got Kaede to promise to help him go shopping for presents for the team and the Sakuragi Guntai. School was closed for Christmas vacation and tons of people were bustling around trying to find the perfect presents for their family and friends.   
Sakuragi was so lost in his thoughts that he missed the turn that led to Rukawa's house. He quickly backtracked and hurried towards the kitsune-eyed boy's house. He reached the front door and pressed the doorbell twice. He waited a few moments and then pressed the doorbell again. After a few more minutes of waiting out in the freezing cold and pressing the doorbell a few more times, he decided that he must resort to desperate measures.   
Sakuragi took a deep breath, "KITSUNE! OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR!!!" He thundered in a voice that is the envy of drill sergeants. He took another deep breath and opened his mouth to yell again when the door suddenly swung open. He grinned smugly, silently congratulating himself for his success when he finally noticed Rukawa's state of dress. Or you could say his state of 'undress'. He gaped as he took in the delicious picture of Rukawa Kaede dressed in only a white towel that hung somewhat limply around his waist. He watched mesmerized as shiny droplets of water dripped from the raven locks, down the beautiful elfin face and down the pale, muscular chest, leaving faint trails of wetness. He just longed to touch the vision. A glacial voice dissipated the spell.   
"Get in or I'm closing the door."   
Sakuragi flushed and then quickly stepped into the house as Rukawa shut the door behind him. 

Rukawa quickly closed the door against the cold, biting wind and then turned towards his 'guest'. He glared balefully at the redhead who dragged him out of his hot, soothing shower. He contemplated jumping back into the shower but then shot down the idea, thinking that a certain do-aho hollering at him to hurry up would ruin any prospect of an enjoyable shower.   
Sakuragi had already taken off his coat and threw it onto the couch. The redhead was sitting on the couch, watching him with a strange expression on his face. He tried to shrug it out of his mind but he suddenly felt extremely self-conscious as chocolate-colored eyes bored into him. Finally he snapped.   
"What are you looking at?"   
Was that his imagination or did he just see the do-aho blush?   
"Nothing! I just think you look a bit funny with your hair matted to your head like that. HAHAHAHA!!!"   
Rukawa snorted and then walked into his bedroom. He towel dried his hair as best as he could and then pulled on a pair of worn blue jeans and a dark blue sweatshirt. He walked back into the living room and grabbed his winter coat from the closet. "Let's go." 

***** 

Rukawa was exhausted. They had practically visited every single store in Kanagawa searching for, as Sakuragi would say, the 'perfect' presents. He didn't know what possessed him to say that he would help Sakuragi find gifts for his friends. '_Oh yeah. I fell for that pleading look in his large chocolate-colored puppy dog eyes when he asked me to help him._' He shook his head ruefully. '_Kaede, you're getting soft._' He berated himself. The redhead was lucky that the whole team agreed to give out presents on New Year's Eve instead of Christmas. Today was already Christmas Eve. They would be attending a formal party on New Year's Eve, after the exchanging of presents, in which all basketball teams in all the districts were invited. It gave everyone more time to shop for presents. He, on the other hand, had already finished shopping a long time before this. He shook his head again and brushed his midnight colored bangs out of his eyes as he looked at his friend.   
He watched as Sakuragi started haggling with the storeowner over the price for a pretty silver bracelet that the redhead probably wanted to get Ayako. '_This is going to take some time._' He resignedly thought to himself.   
Rukawa sighed and then spotted a bench a little ways from the store. He walked over to it and sat down, settling many shopping bags next to him on the bench. He stretched out languidly on the bench and closed his eyes. '_Maybe I can catch some shuteye. I'm so tired…_' 

***** 

Sakuragi brought the bracelet at almost half its original price. He silently congratulated himself for his accomplishment as he looked around for Rukawa. He finally spotted him sleeping in a sitting position on a bench. '_You can really trust that baka to sleep anywhere. I guess he's really tired considering I have been dragging him all over Kanagawa today._' He thought affectionately to himself as he approached the bench. He crouched down in front of Rukawa and peered at the fox's face. He reached out and gently brushed the boy's bangs out of his face. '_So soft._' He marveled to himself as he rubbed the silky strands between his fingers.   
Seeing that Rukawa was asleep, he threw caution to the wind and let his fingers lightly trace Rukawa's lips. The lips parted slightly, warming his fingers as he traced the bottom lip. He shivered slightly and stared hungrily at Rukawa's pink lips. Giving in to the temptation, he laid his hand lightly against a cheek and was surprised and pleased when Rukawa leaned into his touch. He leaned in closer to Rukawa's face, focusing on the pouting lips. Ten inches. Five inches. Three inches. Time stopped as Rukawa suddenly opened his bottomless blue eyes. 

Rukawa felt a fleeting sensation on his lips. He felt something warm touch his face and he gravitated towards it. '_Wait. Where am I?_' He fought his way back to consciousness and slowly opened his eyes. He found himself gazing into warm brown eyes that were mere inches from his face. He studied the eyes before him and somehow felt warmed and comforted by them. '_Hmm. He looks cute like this._' He idly thought to himself. He suddenly became aware of their close proximity. His heart raced and his breath quickened.   
"Hanamichi?" He inquired softly. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears.   
The redhead suddenly pulled away, leaving him a sense that he had missed something important. Something that he didn't really understand and perhaps something he was not ready to understand. He frowned and then asked, "What were you doing?"   
A cheerful grin that did not quite reach the eyes, spread across Sakuragi's face. "I was trying to find a way to wake you up without getting hit. And apparently it worked. See, I AM the Tensai!"   
Rukawa's frown grew deeper. His piercing blue eyes searched Sakuragi's eyes, trying to piece together what he had missed. Sakuragi turned away, avoiding his gaze.   
Suddenly, Rukawa felt himself pulled to his feet.   
"Come on. I'm hungry. Let's go to Danny's. I finished shopping already." Sakuragi said. This time he had a real grin on his face.   
All traces of the moment before had disappeared.   
Questions flitted through his mind and then he shook his head clear of them. Rukawa picked up the bags off the bench. He walked silently still pondering the mystery in his mind while Sakuragi, who turned back to his normal self, began to cheerfully hum his theme song "Ore wa Tensai." 

***** 

   [1]: mailto:Monmoname@hotmail.com



	5. Chapter 5

Unexpected Fate: Chapter Five  
by [Monmon][1]

Disclaimers: Read Chapter 1. 

  
Rukawa leaned on the balcony, breathing in the crisp night air. His navy blue suit jacket was unbuttoned along with the first two buttons of his white shirt underneath the jacket. He closed his eyes, enjoying the silence of the night. He opened his eyes and turned around to look through the glass doors of the balcony. Youhei and Haruko were swaying quite intimately together in a slow dance. They had become a couple about two months ago, which surprised him to no end. He had always thought that Sakuragi was interested in Haruko and that he wanted to make her his girlfriend. When Youhei first announced it, Rukawa expected Sakuragi to go into a rage. Instead, to his and everyone else's surprise, the redhead sincerely congratulated the couple. His eyes traveled to the redhead who was currently talking to Ayako. Sakuragi looked quite handsome in a black blazer, black shirt and matching dress pants. Sakuragi had matured quite a bit over the last few months. His reputation as a gangster faded to a point of nonexistence and the redhead now had a lot of admirers. Sakuragi was flattered and happy with all the attention that he was getting but he had never once returned one of his admirer's affections. Rukawa had once asked Sakuragi about it. After a moment of silence, Sakuragi answered that he hadn't found the right one yet with a sad smile on his lips and his eyes full of longing. That expression on the redhead's face bothered him. So he immediately changed the subject and never mentioned it again.   
He turned around back towards the night, peering up at the twinkling stars. He had managed to avoid dancing all evening with any of his infatuated fans. He flitted from place to place, not staying in any place long enough for anyone to gather up the courage to ask him to dance. It wasn't that he couldn't dance. He actually took dancing lessons when he was younger. If he had continued dancing, he would have become one of the best. Instead, he passed it up for basketball. He just didn't feel comfortable dancing in front of a large crowd of people. Basketball was different. He could block out everything when he was playing basketball. When he held the ball in his hands, the crowd faded away and all that was left was the game and the will to win.   
He really didn't want to come to the party tonight. He never really liked attending social gatherings, but Youhei and Sakuragi both pleaded and begged him to go. In the end, he finally relented, unable to say no to the hopeful lights in both Youhei's and Sakuragi's eyes.   
They had exchanged presents right before the party. He had received several sweaters, basketballs and several CDs. He had gotten the whole team basketball jerseys of their favorite basketball player, and he had gotten Ayako and Haruko pearl earrings and an amethyst pendant necklace, respectively. He had gotten Youhei a gold watch. Everyone had protested his too expensive gifts but he cut them off saying that he had the money and that he might as well use it. He also told them that he would not take them back for any reason whatsoever.   
The door to the balcony opened behind him and someone stepped in. Rukawa turned slightly and then cocked his head curiously.   
"Koshino."   
"Rukawa, what are you doing out here all alone?"   
Rukawa shrugged slightly, gazing back up at the star-filled night sky. The boys were silent for a moment, drinking in the beauty of the night.   
"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" Koshino spoke up.   
"Hai."   
"So you do talk."   
Rukawa gave Koshino a cool glance, not liking the fact that he was being teased. "Why did you come out here?"   
"To look at the stars of course, and to get a breath of fresh air." Koshino replied.   
"Hiro-kun!" A voice drifted to them from the balcony door. They turned towards it together.   
Rukawa watched with hidden amusement as Sendoh glomped onto the shorter Ryonan player.   
"Sendoh!!" Koshino exclaimed, while trying to dislodge himself from Sendoh's grasp.   
"Ne, Hiro-kun? Could you get me something to drink? I want to talk to Rukawa-kun for a minute."   
"Why can't you get one yourself?"   
"Because I want YOU to get me one. Pretty please?" Sendoh batted his eyes cutely at Koshino.   
Koshino grumbled under his breath and then blushed beet red when Sendoh whispered something in his ear. Sendoh let go of the other Ryonan player and Koshino went back into the party.   
Rukawa watched Sendoh smile happily at Koshino's retreating back. Then Sendoh turned to him with a rare serious expression on his face.   
"Yes. Koshino and I are together." Sendoh said, answering his unspoken question.   
Rukawa looked at Sendoh indifferently and waited for him to continue.   
"Are you disgusted with me?"   
Rukawa shook his head slightly.   
"Good. I would hate to lose a friend over something like this."   
There was a moment of silence and then Rukawa spoke up.   
"You're lucky." Rukawa's voice had the slightest wistful tone to it.   
"Huh?" Sendoh looked at him in surprise.   
"I said you're lucky."   
"Oh."   
They fell silent once again, watching the stars. Sendoh then turned and walked off to leave the balcony. As the spiky-haired boy got to the door, he spoke.   
You can have this too if you are willing to take the chance."   
Rukawa frowned and turned around to ask what Sendoh had meant but the tall Ryonan player was gone. '_What did he mean by that?_' He pondered.   
His frown grew deeper. His piercing dark blue eyes scanned the sky as if the answers to the many questions in his mind were somehow written up there. Lately he had been getting the feeling that he was missing something important. The feeling that everyone around him knew something that he didn't. He didn't like the feeling one bit. He hated being left in the dark.   
The balcony door opened again. Rukawa sighed. '_This balcony is getting too popular. Maybe I should go find another hiding place._' He turned around to face his new 'visitor'. 

Sakuragi sipped his fruit punch absently as he looked at the crowd around him. He spotted Rukawa and Sendoh on a distant balcony together. He frowned slightly, wondering what they were talking about.   
"So when are you going to tell him?"   
He turned back to his companion with a smile on his face. Ayako looked stunning in a dark red spaghetti strap gown, with elbow high matching gloves and two-inch high heels. Miyagi was practically drooling when he laid his eyes on Ayako.   
"Soon." He replied evasively. It didn't surprise him that Ayako knew about his attraction to Rukawa. Actually, quite a number of people knew now. Fortunately, they were all close-mouthed people and they promised that they wouldn't leak a word of it to Rukawa. Ayako was always very perceptive. She was one of the first people to question him about his sudden change in attitude towards Rukawa, and knowing that he could trust her, he told her the truth.   
"Well don't wait too long. He's not going to stay untaken forever." She said, winking at him.   
He checked his watch and saw that it was almost midnight. He caught Youhei's eye and nodded towards the balcony where Rukawa was standing. Youhei followed his gaze to the balcony and then nodded his understanding over Haruko's shoulder as the couple swayed to the music.   
"Ayako. Let's start the real party."   
She smiled and went off to spread the word.   
He walked towards the balcony and passed Sendoh who just exited the balcony. Sendoh paused and gave him a cheeky smile before disappearing into the crowd. He considered stopping Sendoh and asking him what he said to Rukawa but then he dismissed the thought. Sendoh wouldn't tell him anything. At least he had Sendoh's promise that he wouldn't reveal anything about Sakuragi's feelings to Rukawa.   
He pulled open the balcony door and stepped outside in the cold night air. Rukawa turned around to face him. Rukawa looked incredibly sexy in his open navy blue jacket. His open shirt exposed a very kissable white slender neck. His features were softened by the moonlight, making the raven-haired boy look ethereal and fey. The vibrant dark blue eyes glittered with beauty and mystery. He must have been staring because Rukawa started to snap his fingers and wave his hands in front of his face.   
"Hanamichi? You okay?"   
Regaining himself, he answered, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Why are you standing out here all alone?"   
"I told you I don't like parties."   
"Aww… come on… it can't be that bad."   
"Yes it can." Rukawa's lips were set into a stubborn line.   
"Did you even give it a chance?"   
"…"   
"You didn't even try it out. Come on. Let's go back in together.   
"No."   
"Just give it one chance. If you really don't like it, you can come back out here or you can leave the party and go back home. Pretty please?" Sakuragi wheedled, giving the kitsune-eyed boy his best pleading puppy dog look.   
Rukawa gave him an exasperated look and he knew that he had won. He grinned like a Cheshire cat and threw an arm around Rukawa's shoulders and ushered him back inside. 

***** 

   [1]: mailto:Monmoname@hotmail.com



	6. Chapter 6

Unexpected Fate: Chapter Six  
by [Monmon][1]

Disclaimers: Read Chapter 1. 

  
Rukawa reluctantly let himself be pushed inside. Once he set foot inside, he received the biggest surprise of his life.   
"SURPRISE!!!" Everyone yelled around him, including the redhead beside him. Confetti fell from the ceiling while his ears were still ringing. A huge cake was towed out and a banner saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUKAWA KAEDE!" was revealed hanging across the ceiling. Everyone was shaking his hand and pounding on his back.   
Finally regaining his composure, he glared at Youhei who was the only one that had a chance of remembering when his birthday was. Youhei and Sakuragi grinned unabashedly back at him. He couldn't hold the glare for long considering they actually set up a birthday party for him. Someone tapped a microphone and caught his attention.   
"Hello everybody! Happy New Year and Happy Birthday Rukawa!!!" Miyagi grinned at the answering whoops from the crowd. He held up a hand and everyone quieted down. "Since it is Rukawa's birthday, wouldn't it be fair that he gets the first dance of the year?" A loud 'yes' filled the room and everyone turned towards Rukawa.   
Only one word was on Rukawa's mind. '_Trapped…_' He quickly glanced in the direction of Youhei and Sakuragi and saw that they both were grinning manically. It wasn't too hard to figure out that they planned this part as well. '_Those two!_' He thought almost angrily to himself. His thoughts became contemplative. '_Hmm… Youhei doesn't know that I can dance. Neither does Sakuragi. Maybe I can use it to my advantage._' He suddenly noted that a large crowd of girls was creeping in his direction. He backed away uneasily and looked around for a possible escape route. Youhei and Sakuragi started to openly laugh at his predicament. '_Why those two… wait… there's a good idea._' His mouth twitched upwards slightly making some of the girls coming up to him faint and starry-eyed. He snorted in derision.   
"Fine. I'll dance." His voice stopped everyone. "But I get to pick my partner."   
He slowly walked around the suddenly immobile crowd of girls pretending to pick a dance partner while slowly moving closer and closer to where Sakuragi and Youhei were standing. When he passed Miyagi, he whispered something in the boy's ear and Miyagi grinned in response. Soon enough, loud, fast, dance music filled the room. By this time, he was close enough to reach Youhei and Sakuragi. He watched in the corner of his eye and saw Youhei put down his glass of fruit punch. '_Here's my chance!_' He immediately grabbed Youhei pulling him out in the middle of the dance floor. His body moved in time to the addicting beat, whirling Youhei around, making the other boy dance with him. Youhei's eyes were wide with shock and disbelief. He totally monopolized Youhei on the dance floor. He could feel the looks of shock on everyone's face as he danced with the still somewhat immobile Youhei. Finally deciding that Youhei had enough, considering that his best friend looked like he was hyperventilating, he whirled the boy into Haruko's arms, giving the girl an almost imperceptible wink. The girl laughed out loud and immediately started to dance with Youhei who finally overcame his shock. He looked around for his next target. A mop of red hair disappeared within the crowd. '_Aha! Gotcha!_' He glided quickly across the room and grabbed Sakuragi's hand, dragging him onto the dance floor.   
"Do-aho, dance with me." He whispered in Sakuragi's ear, before whirling Sakuragi around in time to the music.   
The redhead's face was as red as his hair, but the boy complied.   
'_This will teach them never to put me on the spot again._' He thought gleefully to himself. He watched the boy that danced with him carefully. '_Hmm… Hanamichi isn't a bad dancer._' The redhead matched his steps quite well, never faltering. He tried a few intricate steps but Sakuragi kept up. '_Actually, make that he's a great dancer._'   
He gave Sakuragi a tiny smile before losing himself to the music. He hasn't danced like this in a long time. He was always either practicing basketball or sleeping. He relaxed even further and his body moved on its own accord, making up moves as he went along. After a few more fast songs, the evitable slow song came on and Sakuragi made a move to leave the dance floor. Rukawa, however, did not let him. Rukawa just wrapped his arms around Sakuragi's neck and continued to sway to the music. Sakuragi's face turned even redder than his hair.   
"Kitsune, what the hell are you doing?" He growled lowly.   
"I don't wanna dance with anyone else." Rukawa answered calmly.   
"Oh." Sakuragi hesitantly rested his hands lightly on Rukawa's waist.   
Rukawa rested his head lightly against Sakuragi's shoulder, not caring what other people thought of it. "This feels nice." He said somewhat sleepily.   
"Kaede. You must be tired. Let's go eat some cake and then leave alright?"   
Rukawa nodded and bit back a yawn. He let Sakuragi lead him off the dance floor. 

***** 

Sakuragi glanced at Rukawa in surprise as they walked together silently towards Rukawa's house. The surprising thing was that Rukawa didn't fall asleep even though Sakuragi knew that the fox-eyed boy was very tired. Rukawa just stared at his shoes with a sort of depressed look on his face.   
"I never really liked my birthday."   
Sakuragi was thrown off-balanced. Rukawa was just full of surprises tonight.   
"Huh?"   
"My parents got divorced when I was seven. That's why I moved away from Kanagawa."   
Sakuragi didn't know what to say. He knew that Rukawa lived alone but he had never asked about Rukawa's family, not wanting to intrude on the other boy's privacy.   
"They were so consumed with fighting with each other that they were always running off to different places trying to show the other that they were much better off without the other."   
"Who took care of you then?" Sakuragi asked before he could stop himself.   
"They left me with a nanny. Both of my parents would send me cards and presents but they were never actually there for my birthday. I didn't want any of the things that they sent me. I just wanted them to spend some time with me on my birthday like they used to do." Rukawa's eyes misted over slightly.   
"I-I'm sorry, Kaede." Sakuragi couldn't think of anything else to say.   
They stopped in front of Rukawa's house.   
Rukawa suddenly wrapped his arms around him and gave him a tight hug. "Thank you for being here with me." Rukawa whispered softly in his ear.   
Sakuragi slowly brought his arms up and encircled the raven-haired boy. He slowly brought them closer, reveling in the feel of the warm body in his arms. He took the opportunity to smell the other boy. Maple and something spicy tickled his nose. He really just wanted to hold the kitsune-eyed boy like this forever and never let go. It just felt so right, like the kitsune-eyed boy belonged in his arms. When they were dancing earlier, Sakuragi had felt extremely excited and exhilarated. Rukawa was a really good dancer and they matched each other perfectly on the dance floor. When the slow song came on, his heart skipped a beat when Rukawa wrapped his arms around his neck and said that he didn't want to dance with anyone else. He knew that there was nothing special behind the statement but he couldn't help hoping that maybe he did have a chance.   
"Anytime." He said softly. He then reluctantly pulled away from the embrace. The fox-eyed boy flashed him one of his rare tiny half-smiles that always made him weak in the knees, before entering the house.   
He stared at the house a moment longer before walking towards his own house. '_I should tell him soon. Ayako is right. He will not stay untaken forever._' He thought to himself, while planning on how he should tell Rukawa. 

***** 

_RING! RING!_   
Rukawa groaned and propped himself up on an elbow to look at his alarm clock. '_9:30._' He groaned again and flopped back down on his bed, trying to will the incessant ringing away. It was a week after his birthday and Rukawa was spending most of his time hibernating since all the basketball courts outside was covered in snow. The ringing did not go away and in his perspective, it seemed to only grow louder. He growled ominously in his throat and then dragged himself out of bed. He grabbed the phone and snarled, "What???"   
"Oi, Kitsune, you still asleep? It's a beautiful day outside and it shouldn't be wasted. It stopped snowing last night. Are you busy today?" Sakuragi's cheerful voice came across the line.   
"Yes."   
"With what? You better not say sleeping. Youhei is out on a date with Haruko and the Sakuragi Guntai went clubbing. So the only one left is you. You have to do something with me. I'm bored outta my mind!"   
"…"   
"I know! We can watch a movie together! There's a great action movie that just came out. I know you like action movies!"   
Rukawa sighed and then said, "Fine."   
"Great! I'll see you at the movie theater at 3 o'clock sharp. See you later! Bye!"   
Rukawa slowly placed the phone back on the hook. Sakuragi had always managed to get him to do whatever that the redhead wanted him to do. It was utterly exasperating how his stubbornness and resistance seemed to melt in the redhead's presence. He sighed and then decided that he could get a few more hours of sleep before he had to go out to accompany Sakuragi to the movies. 

***** 

   [1]: mailto:Monmoname@hotmail.com



	7. Chapter 7

Unexpected Fate: Chapter Seven  
by [Monmon][1]

Disclaimers: Read Chapter 1. 

  
The movie was pretty good and it actually kept him awake. After the movie, they went for dinner at Danny's. Sakuragi talked about the movie and then about basketball. Rukawa mostly listened silently, adding little comments where he thought appropriate. They walked together out of Danny's around 7 P.M. and Sakuragi had insisted on walking him home instead of taking a bus home himself. Everything was right in Rukawa's world now. He had finally found two friends that he could trust and confide in, and who cared about him. His basketball skills were improving and he should soon be able to realize his dreams to become the best in Japan. A small smile unconsciously formed on his face. The pain in his heart that appeared whenever he thought of his parents faded to a dull ache. He was finally happy and there was more in his world than just basketball. He let his eyes fall close, knowing that Sakuragi would protect him from any bodily harm. He quickly fell asleep. 

Sakuragi caught the beautiful smile on Rukawa's face and wondered what the fox-eyed boy was thinking about. A few seconds later, Rukawa was asleep. Sakuragi sighed to himself. The whole day he had been trying to find a way to tell Rukawa about his feelings but in the end, he chickened out. He glanced at Rukawa with longing in his eyes. The boy was so near yet so far. He sighed again and stared at his feet as he walked.   
Suddenly a car came screeching down the street. Sakuragi's head snapped up and watched as Rukawa unconsciously step out onto the same street. He immediately grabbed Rukawa on the arm and yanked him back into safety. His fear that Rukawa might actually get hit, made him pull a bit too hard. Rukawa came crashing into him and they went down together on the snow-covered ground with Rukawa on top of him. Rukawa woke up instantly and blinked confusedly down at Sakuragi.   
Sakuragi could feel Rukawa's warm breath gently fanning his face. He drank in the fox-eyed boy's scent and encircled his arms tightly around the boy's slender waist. He gazed up into the beautiful fox-blue eyes that have captured his heart from the very beginning. '_It is time._' He thought to himself.   
"Kaede, do you remember another time about four months ago where we were in exactly the same situation that we are in now?" He asked slowly, making sure that the kitsune understood every word. "Do you remember what happened?"   
Rukawa's eyes widened slightly and confusion started to fill the deep blue orbs. "You can't mean…" He replied in an unsteady voice.   
"What if I do?" He asked huskily. "Actually I can and I do." He lifted his head off the ground and captured Rukawa's soft lips in a hot, searing kiss.   
Rukawa's lips were softer than he remembered and they ignited a fire and passion within him. He quickly rolled over, effectively pinning Rukawa beneath him. The petal soft lips yielded under the pressure of his tongue and he swept inside. He thoroughly explored every crevice in the raven-haired boy's mouth. He had never thought that something could taste so sweet and be so addicting.   
Rukawa was totally unresponsive throughout the entire kiss. It appeared that the kitsune-eyed boy was in shock. After a few minutes, Sakuragi broke off the kiss and stared down on the beautiful boy beneath him. Rukawa's eyes were tightly shut and his breathing was coming out in short gasps.   
He laid a hand against a smooth cheek, reveling in the feel of the soft skin under his fingers. "Kaede?" He inquired softly.   
There was no response.   
Sakuragi was starting to get worried. He rolled off of Rukawa and sat up, pulling Rukawa in a half sitting position on his lap. "Kaede?" He called again, shaking the boy lightly.   
Pale eyelids flickered delicately against high cheekbones and then they slowly opened. A faint blush colored the fox-eyed boy's cheeks when he finally realized that he was sitting on Sakuragi's lap. He struggled to get up. Sakuragi, however, had other plans. He held the other boy down firmly in his arms and brought his lips near Rukawa's ear.   
"I like you, Kaede." He whispered huskily in the raven-haired boy's ear, the tone of his voice carrying emotional undertones that made the words unmistakable.   
Rukawa blushed even deeper and started to struggle frantically. Afraid that the kitsune-eyed boy would hurt himself, Sakuragi let him go. Rukawa sprang out of his arms breathing heavily. There was a familiar wild look in Rukawa's eyes. He had seen the same look in the fox-blue eyes four months ago when they accidentally kissed. It meant that the boy was about to run like hell was chasing him. Trying to delay the flight reaction in Rukawa, he got to his knees and quickly grabbed Rukawa's wrist.   
"Wait. I'm not done talking to you."   
"Let me go." Rukawa's voice was low and dangerous and his eyes were burning into him.   
"I'll let you go if you promise that you will listen to what I have to say." Sakuragi replied evenly.   
Faster than a snake, Rukawa struck. Sakuragi felt himself propelled backwards, landing hard on his back. Pain seared through his back and his breath got knocked out of him. He groaned out loud as he struggled to sit up. He looked around quickly and noted that Rukawa had left without a trace. He slumped back onto the ground and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Depression and defeat whirled around his head. The cold wind filled him, freezing him. Suddenly he felt a shadow fall upon him. '_Kaede?_' He thought hopefully to himself. He opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of Youhei's mother's concerned face looming over him.   
"Hanamichi! Are you alright?"   
"Ahh… yes. I'm fine. Just a bit tired." Sakuragi replied with a sinking heart and a feeling of dread. "Don't worry about me."   
Youhei's mother stood up straight and placed her hands on her hips in a very defiant position. She looked down upon him with a very determined expression on her face. "Then why in the world are you lying on the ground? There must be something wrong. I watched you grow up, Hanamichi. You know that I can see right through you and right now my eyes are telling me that you are not okay. You know that you can come to me if you have any problems. So why don't you just tell me what is wrong?"   
Sakuragi contemplated the question for a moment. '_How am I supposed to tell her? I'm not even sure what she thinks about homosexuals! Knowing her, she won't stop until I give her an answer! Think fast Hanamichi!_'   
"It's about Kaede, isn't it?"   
"How - " Sakuragi unwittingly blurted out. He blushed furiously and then said, "I mean… It has nothing to do with the fox!!!"   
"Like I said Hanamichi, you can't hide from me." She held out a hand to him with a warm motherly smile in her eyes and face.   
Sakuragi slowly sat up and reached for her hand. He was strangely reminded of a time when he was about eight years old. He was racing with Youhei when suddenly he tripped and fell. He scraped his knees pretty badly and he was screaming his head off. Youhei's mother came up to him with her hand held out and that same smile on her face. At that moment, he felt that everything was going to be all right. As he grasped her hand, he was brought out of his memories. Like water rushing out of a broken dam, he told her everything. He ended up crying in her arms and her patting his head as if he was still a 8-year-old child. He let her lead him back to her house where she fixed a cup of hot chocolate for him while he washed up in the bathroom. She placed a mug in front of him and watched him silently as he took a sip.   
"So you're going to give up on him?"   
Sakuragi stared at her in surprise. The surprise quickly turned to bitterness. "What else can I do? He ran away from me when I confessed my feelings. He must be disgusted with me." He muttered into his mug.   
"How can you be so sure? You just told him you liked him. He must be scared and confused out of his mind!" She said.   
"But still! That does not change the fact that he ran away from me!"   
"Kaede probably just needs time to think. You're going too fast for him. He's not ready for that type of change in his life. His life is pretty simple and uncomplicated for him right now. It only consists of eating, sleeping and playing basketball. Then you suddenly go up to him and tell him that you like him. How do you expect him to react?"   
"But…"   
"No buts! You were friends with Kaede these past few months. Did you like the person that you found Rukawa Kaede to be? Are you going to let all that time you spent trying to get him to open up go to waste? Are you willing to give him up without a fight? Maybe your feelings for him weren't as strong as I expected. Maybe you're going to do the same thing that his parents did and abandon him."   
The memory of the night in which Rukawa hugged him popped up in his mind. '_Thank you for being here with me._' Rukawa's words repeated themselves in his head. He had felt so warm holding Rukawa in his arms that night even though it was only a hug among friends. Youhei's mother's last words filtered into his brain. '_Abandon him? Never!_' Sakuragi felt determination and fire fill him as he slammed the empty mug back onto the table. "No! I will not give up on him that easily!"   
Youhei's mother smiled at him and then refilled his mug with more hot chocolate. "Good. Now have another cup."   
"But I have to go find Kaede!"   
Her skillet magically appeared in her hand and Sakuragi sweat-dropped. Holding his hands up in surrender, he hastily said, "Okay, okay, I'll stay."   
She put down the skillet and smiled warmly at him. He let out his breath in relief. 

***** 

   [1]: mailto:Monmoname@hotmail.com



	8. Chapter 8

Unexpected Fate: Chapter Eight  
by [Monmon][1]

Disclaimers: Read Chapter 1. 

  
Youhei walked briskly with his hands deep into his pockets of his winter coat. His eyes scanned the area for a familiar mop of raven hair. He cursed silently to himself as it began to snow again and a brisk wind whipped his scarf behind him. Nearly a half an hour ago, his mother had called him on his cell phone telling him everything that had happened. She had called Rukawa's house and no one had picked up. She explained to him that he must now find Kaede and see if he is all right. So now he was here trudging through the snow, trying to see through the swirling white mist around him. An idea suddenly hit him. '_Maybe Kaede is…_' He hurried to a small park that was near his house. Sure enough, he spotted a slender figure swaying back and forth slightly on one of the swings. He walked up to Rukawa and sat down on the adjacent swing.   
"You never did change, did you Kaede?"   
Rukawa looked up in surprise. "Hei-chan…" Rukawa spoke softly with a great amount of uncertainty in his voice.   
Youhei winced a little at the nickname and then smiled warmly at his childhood best friend. "Kaede, did you know you had us all worried? What are you doing here?"   
"…"   
"Come on. Tell me what is wrong. I know that you always come here when you have something troubling you. Ever since we were little, you would come here if you were sad or had something to think about. I would always know that you were here and come and cheer you up. I just can't believe that even now when we're grown, we'll end up doing the exact same thing. So what happened?"   
"…nothing."   
"Don't give me that crap! You know that you can trust me with anything. So why won't you just tell me?" Youhei exclaimed impatiently.   
"…"   
The fox-eyed boy turned away from Youhei, looking down on the pristine white ground.   
Looking at his friend, he decided that a bit of prodding was in order. Maybe if he told him that he knew what happened between him and Hanamichi, he would open up. It might backfire on him, but he had to take a chance. Youhei didn't want either of his best friends sad.   
"It's about Hanamichi, isn't it?" He ignored the look of surprise on Kaede's face and continued. "I know that he likes you. How do you feel about him?" He asked bluntly.   
"I… I…"   
"You're probably surprised that I know. Well, I knew from the very beginning. Hanamichi confessed to me that he liked you about four months ago. Why do you think he suddenly wanted to be friends with you? Why do you think he suddenly wanted to spend so much time playing basketball with you? No it's not because he wanted to get better at basketball in order to beat you, but he did it to get to know you. Tell me. How do you feel about him?" 

"How do you feel about him?"   
The words repeated in his mind like a mantra. He asked himself the exact same question over and over again for the last hour. He knew that Sakuragi is a very close friend. He even confided to the redhead about his feelings about his parents. He trusts Sakuragi and he instinctively knew that Sakuragi would never betray his trust. '_I never knew that he felt anything for me._' Suddenly Sendoh's words from a few days ago surfaced in his mind. '_You can have this too if you are willing to take the chance._' He finally understood what the spiky-haired Ryonan player was talking about. Apparently Sendoh knew of Sakuragi's feelings too. '_Am I really that blind?_'   
"He's… a trusted friend." Rukawa answered slowly.   
"Are you going to give him a chance?"   
Rukawa was thrown off-balanced again. '_Damn Youhei. Him and all his questions that I'm not ready to face._'   
"You know that you can't drag this out." Youhei continued. "You're just going to hurt Hanamichi more with your silence. He deserves an answer. You have been his friend for four months now. You're a lot happier now that you are his friend. I can see it. There are times that I see that you are fighting not to crack that cold mask of yours. You truly enjoy being his friend. You care about Hanamichi whether you want to admit it or not. You cannot change the facts. I'm sure that you don't want to hurt him any more than necessary. So you must tell him how you feel."   
"But I'm not sure…"   
"It's okay. Just think about how you feel when you are with him." Youhei had a mischievous glint in his eyes that almost made Rukawa back away uneasily. "Think about how you felt when he kissed you."   
Rukawa's face burned up like a comet as he glared blackly at Youhei who started to chuckle earnestly. He fluidly scooped up some snow, making it into a snowball and threw it with deadly accuracy at Youhei's face. It hit the other boy smack in the middle of his face. Youhei sputtered and fell off his swing. By the time Youhei got back to his feet, Rukawa had a couple of more snowballs in his hands ready to be fired at him.   
Youhei raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I'll stop teasing you." Youhei suddenly turned serious. "But please think about what I said."   
Rukawa let the snowballs drop to the ground and swayed back and forth some more in his swing. He subconsciously noted that Youhei sat back silently into the swing next to him as his thoughts whirled furiously in his head. '_I enjoy spending time with Hanamichi. He brings color to my world in a way that no one has been able to before. He makes me feel, whether it's happy, sad, or angry. Hanamichi is like a breath of fresh air in my dull world. So am I willing to give him a chance?_' Rukawa thought back to the kiss. It was his first kiss. He remembered the passion and fire coming from the redhead as the other boy pressed his lips against his and swept his tongue inside his mouth. He never felt so wanted before in his life. Sakuragi kissed him as if he wanted to devour him whole. He could still feel the warmth from Hanamichi's body and his lips. He lifted a hand and touched his lips, blushing lightly when he realized that he liked the way that Sakuragi kissed him. '_So I do feel something for him. And I'm not disgusted by his kiss. I… enjoyed it._' Finally making up his mind, he turned to Youhei who started to shiver from the cold.   
"You finished thinking? You came up with an answer?" Youhei spoke with puffs of mist coming out of his mouth while shivering slightly.   
Rukawa nodded affirmatively and got up from his swing.   
Youhei stood up as well. "Come on. Let's go to my house and defrost a bit. My mother is worried about you. So it's better if I just bring you over and let her see for herself that you are okay."   
Rukawa nodded again affirmatively. He shivered slightly as he suddenly realized how cold and dark it has gotten.   
They walked in companionable silence to Youhei's house. 

***** 

Youhei's mother breathed a sigh of relief when she saw two familiar figures stroll up the walkway to the house. She threw open the front door before Youhei could dig his keys out of his pocket.   
"Youhei! Kaede! Where have you two been? I've been so worried about you two!" She ushered them both into the house. Hanamichi was looking at his mug uncomfortably ever since she had said Kaede's name. Pouring out two more cups of hot chocolate, she placed one in front of each boy that came in. She watched discreetly as Kaede and Hanamichi glanced at each other from time to time. At one point, they caught each other's eyes and then looked away blushing slightly. '_Hmm… they just need a little push in the right direction._'   
"It's getting late. Hanamichi, why don't you walk Kaede home?" Hanamichi looked up in her eyes and then looked away.   
"…ok." Hanamichi replied softly.   
Rukawa looked up at her too and then nodded slightly.   
Suddenly she had the feeling that everything was going to turn out just fine. She bid both the boys good night and then gave them both a motherly kiss on the cheek.   
Youhei walked them both out the door while she watched the two best friends of her son from the window with a contented smile on her face. Youhei shut the door and then walked back to where she stood.   
"Do you think they will be alright?"   
"Yes."   
"What makes you so sure?" Youhei asked worriedly.   
"Because I've watched them both grow up."   
Youhei thought for a moment and then a big smile grew on his face. "Hai. You're right, okaasan." He said as he gave her a warm hug. 

***** 

   [1]: mailto:Monmoname@hotmail.com



	9. Chapter 9

Unexpected Fate: Chapter Nine  
by [Monmon][1]

Disclaimers: Read Chapter 1. 

  
They walked together silently for a few blocks, watching their breaths come out in small puffs of smoke. Sakuragi finally broke the silence. He grabbed Rukawa's arm, pulling them both to a stop.   
"Kaede. We have got to talk."   
Kaede nodded and Sakuragi slowly let go of the raven-haired boy's arm. The kitsune-eyed boy just stood there silently waiting for him to continue with an unreadable expression in his eyes.   
Sakuragi took a deep breath and then plunged in. "You already know how I feel about you and I'm not going to take back what I said earlier. I'm not asking you to return my feelings at the moment. I just want you to know that I'll wait for you as long as it takes for you to accept me. I'm not going to give up on you. I just hope that you won't push me away. I just want to be in a small part of your life. Will you let me?"   
"No."   
His heart plummeted at the word and tears of misery sprung to his eyes. He turned away from Rukawa not wanting the other boy to see him cry. Rukawa's next words brought him up short.   
"I don't want you to be in a small part of my life."   
"Nani?" Sakuragi blinked and then turned around to stare fully at the fox-eyed boy.   
"I want you to be in a big part."   
Hope bloomed like a flower in his heart as he saw Rukawa give him a small teasing smirk.   
"Kitsune! You're teasing me!!!" He gaped at the beautiful boy before him in surprise and then a devious thought entered his mind. A mischievous grin spread slowly across his face. "Anyone who teases the Tensai must be punished!"   
Not giving Rukawa a chance to escape, he immediately pounced and tackled Rukawa to the snow-covered ground and started to mercilessly tickle the boy's sides. An inadvertent yelp escaped Rukawa's lips before the fox-eyed boy started to laugh helplessly. Rukawa tried to twist away from his grasp but Sakuragi firmly held him down with his weight. Then Rukawa tried to retaliate by tickling him back but he discovered that Sakuragi was not in the least ticklish.   
Finally unable to take it anymore, Rukawa shouted hoarsely, "I give up! I surrender!"   
Sakuragi had a triumphant grin on his face as he gazed upon the boy beneath him. Rukawa's cheeks were slightly flushed and laughter was sparkling in his fox-blue eyes. His heart suddenly got caught in his throat as he drowned into beautiful blue pools. He laid a hand against a smooth white cheek and whispered softly, "So beautiful."   
Rukawa blushed slightly at the words and tried to look away, but Sakuragi wouldn't let him. '_I will never let him go._' Sakuragi vowed silently to himself. He held the face still in firm and gentle fingers and leaned in closer until their lips were mere centimeters apart.   
"Dai suki." He whispered before closing the distance and plundering the sweet mouth under his. Rukawa's arms encircled his back and returned the kiss tentatively. Their tongues met each other hesitantly and then getting bolder, they battled for control of the kiss. They finally broke the kiss when they had to come up for air. Both of them were panting slightly and their faces were slightly flushed. Rukawa was the first to regain his breath.   
"Do-aho. Let me up."   
"Kitsune, how dare you call the Tensai that?" He growled playfully. But after a moment, he got up off of Rukawa, grabbed the fox's hand and pulled him up.   
They started to walk again towards Rukawa's house together in companionable silence. His heart was filled with happiness when he realized that Rukawa's hand was still within his own and that the kitsune didn't seem to mind. They soon arrived at Rukawa's house and Sakuragi reluctantly let go of Rukawa's hand.   
He was surprised when Rukawa stepped up close to him and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. The kiss was a promise of sweet things to come.   
"…see ya tomorrow." Rukawa said with a tiny, shy smile on his lips before entering the house.   
Sakuragi stared dazedly at the house and then a big, goofy grin spread across his face. He turned slowly from the house and started to walk home, whistling cheerfully. He noticed with a light heart that the future certainly looked brighter now that he knew that a certain kitsune-eyed boy would be by his side. 

THE END 

   [1]: mailto:Monmoname@hotmail.com



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